The Keepers
Cycling is a mighty sport with a rich and complex history. Every company, racer, piece of kit, and component has a legend, a story behind it; in many cases it also has a personal and nostalgic connection to our lives. While this particular sport is steeped in tradition, it is also fiercely modern, a fact that serves only to deepen its complexity.
All these factors combine to provide an unique atmosphere and breeds devoted and loyal disciples of our great sport. We are of a peculiar nature; we seek out the highest mountains and the roughest roads on which to worship at the altar of the Man with the Hammer. Our legs are what propel us; our minds are what drive us. We refer to our shaved legs in the third person – the legs – and speak of distance in kilometres and measure sizes in centimetres regardless of what country we are in. We adhere strictly to the Canon of Cycling’s Etiquette: The Rules.
A Velominatus is a disciple of the highest order. We spend our days poring over the very essence of what makes ours such a special sport and how that essence fits into Cycling’s colorful fabric. This is the Velominati’s raison d’être. This is where the Velominati can be ourselves. This is our agony – our badge of honor – our sin.
I have a unique way of looking at bicycles. A good bicycle and it’s components are beautiful things to me. I’m not just talking about appearance, but also how the frame and components show the dreams of those who made them.
– Gianni Bugno, Hardman and Italian cycling legend
Perhaps we are too wrapped up in the past, but the Velominati don’t believe that to be the case. After all, the greatest lessons can be learned from the past and those lessons can then be applied to the present and may then allow us to more fully experience the future.
The Keepers:
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The Community:
Velominati.com is less about the articles and more about the conversation. Those of you who read more and poster more, become an integral part of the discussion and help carry the momentum forward. There are several levels of Velominatus*:
Level 4 Velominatus: The casual observer and occasional poster.
Level 3 Velominatus: The regular reader and casual poster.
Level 2 Velominatus: The devoted reader and regular poster.
Level 1 Velominatus: The most committed of reader and poster.
Gray, Black, and Orange Order Velominatus: Once having passed Level 1, the inducted among the Order wear three color badges, based on their rank.
Conduct:
We strive to foster an open, fun, critical, and censure-free environment. Any criticism of our writing, spelling, grammar, or intelligence is welcome and nothing said will ever get you suspended from the site. That said, the code of conduct is governed by Rule #43 and the Piti Principle. Members consistently exhibiting behavior that falls outside these parameters will be warned to check themselves; should warnings go unheeded, we may elect to issue a suspension. The first offense will result in a one-week suspension, the second in a two week suspension, and the third in a three week suspension. A fourth offense will result in a lifetime ban.
Velominati reserves the right to edit posts with the express interest to preserve the spirit of the conversation and the community. Regarding posts that address a grammatical or typographical error, Velominati may elect to take their input, correct the error in the articles where appropriate, and editing posts that point them out. This editorial action is not to serve as a censure entity, but to preserve the spirit of the conversation. That said, we endeavor to only edit those posts that point out a minor issue and only in the event that we make the edit before the post has yielded further discussion. Furthermore, when possible, we will strive to acknowledge said poster for their correction.
Want to contribute a story to the Velominati? Tell us why.
*Levels are calculated based on the previous year’s activity.
Hi,
First time poster here, but have been following the many amazing articles and living by the rules for the past year.
I may be posting this in completely the wrong place, and if so I apologies. I am bringing my very white, Velomiwookie, British self out to California for a week and plan to see Orange County and surrounding areas by velo whilst my Velomihottie is at work.
I am looking to lay down some ‘V’ with a knowledgeable local who can show me some epic routes. If anyone is up for meeting up during the week between 28th April and 3rd May then let me know.
Huffing_hippo
I have posted over in the bikes before
now when I log in and go over to the the bikes it says that I am not logged in.
what could be the problem
@Roger
Caching in your browser. I get that sometimes and have to flush my browser cache.
@Teocalli
Will try it out
Thanks
Don’t know where to post this, but here will do (?) Visit to my mother’s place and going through some drawers, found some more great mags.
This is some Rebecca Twigg love from Bicycle Sport, May 1984.
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photo cred David Epperson
I had a pair of white Duegi’s similar to Rebecca.
Hi,
I’d like to introduce myself… I’m a middle-aged, not too flexible family guy (=working on slamming the stem, but not there just yet) who recently re-discovered the love for cycling. Having no prior experience in road cycling, I have found the information on this site (and especially The Rules) very helpful.
Last year I started commuting daily on an old trainer (that’s what it was called back in the ’80s anyway – drop-bars, 28mm+fenders etc.), sold my full-susser and bought a road bike just to see if/how I liked the open roads. Needless to say, since I’m here now, I was hooked. Commuting routes started to lenghten from the minimum 25km a day on the old trainer to the occasional >100km on a good day on the Ciöcc (I like to tinker with bikes, so I got an old steel road bike in need of some TLC for next to nothing… and I love it!). Now I wasn’t bulky to start with, but I’m slowly running out of excuses like ‘not being built for climbs’ – so if you ask me, my immersion into the world of road cycling and living by The Rules has had a positive effect on my life so far.
I’m grateful for all the informative articles and discussion on this site, and am looking forward to participating in the banter and expanding my knowledge further.
@mssuo Welcome. You seem well on the way to understanding things around here.
@mssuo Cheers to you for getting out there and riding the shit out of your bike. Glad we could be of any help at all as that still is up for debate in some circles. Welcome – good to have you in the pack.
@mssuo Good to hear — every bit! Think Cogal…
Hey Frank – is anyone having issues loh=gging in? I have not been able to log in since my Giro picks. I tried resetting my password and nothing seems to work?
@Tobin All good here…no issues at all…
@Tobin
I hear this occasionally and have even experienced it myself once, but I can’t replicate it so am unable to offer any helpful advice. After a while it will work again; seems to have something to do with cached data somewhere between your browser and the site.
You should be able to work around it in the interim by using a difference browser; if you’re having trouble with Chrome, try Safari.
@frank logging in on Safari worked, thanks!! It must have been a sign from the gods when I went to switch Quintana for Cadelephant on the first rest day and I manually had to go in and do it….motherf*cker!!!
Hello,
Can you give me your view on white vs. black (or other colours) cycling shoes?
I understand that white is pro, but Eddy did ride with black…
Some will also claim that the better you are, the more spectacular the shoes can be (has to match)… is this correct?
Thanks in advance!
Best regards
Øystein
CCT
The link to register and/or login isn’t showing up on mobile sites (Chrome on Android)
@commodumcyclingteam
It appears no one has got back to you on the issue so allow me to refer you to Rule #18, Rule #34, and Rule #69 in regards to footwear. And then, check the Articles and the Lexicon for guidance.
Stumbled onto THE RULES at the local Barnes & Noble. Not much of a selection, I alreaady owned most of the cycling books offered for sale. But, it looked interesting and was a great read. Much to my surprise I pretty much adhered to most of the rules already. (My only major indiscretion is the use of a saddle bag.) I especially like the N+1 rule. I now have 4 bikes and eyeing up no. 5 So I decided to check out the site. I am old (59) and tired but still like to ride as much as I did when I got my first bike at age 9. Like so many, I had been off the bike for a good while. I always had one around but was pretty sporadic in my riding. I rode a MS150 in 2004 after being goaded into it by a cousin. 4 years ago I decided to get a modern bike. Once introduced to the beauty of indexed shifting I kind of went crazy and have been riding at least 3000 K a year. The upside to this is I have lost a good bit of weight, made a lot of friends and am riding faster and farther than I ever did as a child. I am somewhat reclusive and a loner at heart. It has taken a while for me to get used to the idiosyncratic nature of road cylists. They tend to be strange birds. It seems like a place thatI fit in . So here I am.
@Bigjohnla
Welcome. It’s not only youngsters around here!
Hi, the link http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/ appears to be broken! I can’t view any content and need to share your rules with a friend new to cycling and unfamiliar with them!!
Please help! Thanks!
@Amy Works fine for me, try flushing your cache or not using MS explorer.
Frank, the spam is getting crazy. I don’t know what but Something Must Be Done, please.
Some of them make more sense than the posts so it’s really hard to scan the Latest column and choose one to read. (insert ironic emoticon please)
It’s like someone coming in to our conversation and yelling over us. Why are they here anyway – I don’t even understand. Mostly they don’t seem to be selling stuff or creating links as click bait. Do they get paid by the comment perhaps?
At any rate there is clearly something about this site that attracts them or makes it easier for them to post. Speaking for myself I would accept some greater level of security/inconvenience if it meant limiting the spamage.
@ChrisO @Frank I presume they are just posting on a random name and email combination without registering so maybe just checking that people are registered to post? If they are registering automatically maybe insert a check to delay say a day before accepting a first post? Probably teaching you to suck eggs.
@xyxax
^^^ Gold. It must be Friday.
Joking aside, I know Frank has got a lot on his plate these days. It’s quite a juggling act he manages to do, so I can’t get animated about the spam.
@Mike_P Yes some of them are unintentionally funny in a surreal way.
At a certain level I agree it isn’t something to worry about but when nearly all the Latest posts are spam it just looks bad. Someone coming to the site for the first time might well think it’s a ghost town.
And also I think it has a dampening effect on the type of comment and discussion which is one of the joys of the site. Longer term I fear it would have a very negative effect if left unchecked.
@sthilzy
Changed your email address, most likely.
@xyxax
Somehow trashed your post in the midst of clearing out spam.
@ChrisO
Agreed, not sure what’s causing the spike – the spam filters should be catching this stuff. Made a little tweak and maybe its better now?
The site overall has so many comments overall that WordPress really isn’t very good at handling it all anymore, so it might also be time to move away from WordPress in general.
@Mike_P
Not only Friday but the last day before vacation. I’ve cracked a little more than usual.
@frank
No worries. The spam filters must be fed or they wither.
Alright folks, due to the massive amounts of SPAM making it through the filters, I am requiring – for the time being – that a post needs to be approved by a Keeper prior to you being allowed to have your post becomes publicly visible; its a sad measure to have to take, but but the spammers are getting more clever and until we can figure out their game, we’ll have to take it at a brute-force level.
I’m disappointed to have to take the free-speech spirit of the community down a notch because of a few (thousand) bad apples, but it is distracting from the conversation, and we should be able to clear out the legit posts within a half day or day at the most; newcomers please don’t be discouraged; your voice will be heard.
@frank Fair enough – anything to get rid of the spam.
You may have considered this but would it not be possible to just apply the clearance to someone’s first post? And once they are ‘approved’ as non-spammers be able to post freely.
That would also reduce the workload on the Keepers.
@ChrisO
Agreed. Maybe the first couple of posts get checked, then the light turns green. Checking every post seems like a LOT of extra work for the Keepers. I have no clue how these things work, but I’m sure Frank can work it out.
A shame the spam bots can wiggle their way through and be so annoying. Hope you get it worked out, I don’t envy the Keepers at this point (I’ve been there myself as a forum mod, it’s not fun)
I am hoping that the current formatting of including photos in the Recent Posts column is a temporary glitch. FYI, it is happening across iPad and Mac. Thanks.
Excellent! That seems to have been a quick fix.
Just back from two weeks holiday so thought I’d best check I can still get on to the community and through the security. I’ve got to say, two weeks with maybe 30 minutes total internet access has been almost as liberating as riding my bike.
Oh, hurrah… while I’m on site can I issue a plea for help @Frank.
I don’t know what’s going on but frequently I’m unable to post. I submit and they just disappear, and it seems to be random. I post OK and then an hour later, it’s not OK.
Not that anyone would be missing my words of wisdom but it happens often enough that on a number of occasions I’ve been going to reply to something and have decided not to bother because I can’t be arsed writing a post which goes nowhere.
I’m sure it must be affecting other people too. Without doing a longitudinal analysis it seems to me that the number of replies and comments on articles is lower and slower than in the past.
@ChrisO
I think the posts are bring moderated at the moment because of the amount of spammers. It could be that your references to Viagra, Penus Extension Pills, Lottery Wins in Nigeria and Tax Refunds are getting caught in all the other guff that is coming through these days…..?
@Deakus
Yes but they never appear, so it isn’t being held in a moderation queue and then approved. Unless the moderators are mortally offended by my opinions on latex tubes.
Did I mention that my sister makes five hundred dollars a day working from home?
@ChrisO
She have any jobs going?!! (I would insert an emoticon here but @frank would order a mini pump lashing!)
@Deakus
@Deakus Not sure why @ChrisO brought this up?? but I’m sure you could do the same from your house, just the other way round, if you know what I mean. Frank might lend you his mini pump, you know how those things excite the lassies?
Kennaugh in the breakaway, it will be really good to see what it can do..
@ChrisO
I found two of your posts in Spam queue, how many went missing? If you’ve been flag (by accident) as a spammer that would doom you for certain.
Also as a point of clarification on an earlier post; once you have one post approved you can post ad nauseum. Its only newcomers with no previous posts that hit the moderation queue. Its actually kind of nice doing it this way as now I get to recognize who the first-time posters are.
Handbag fight on a bike going uphill…well that is one way to get the viewing figures up!
@Deakus
it! I meant HE!
@frank Thanks Frank. I think there were three or four at least – it seemed to happen in two bursts, so I could post, then I couldn’t, then I could, then I couldn’t and now it seems OK.
This would be where to insert that gif about production bugs, if I had it.
No worries, whatever you’ve done seems to have wiped the spam, so I guess it’s worth a bit of collateral.
@frank Trying again… ironically my reply last night didn’t appear.
That’s the weird thing. I can post, then I can’t, then I can, then I can’t.
This is probably the third time it’s happened now.
Each time I try a couple of posts before giving up and coming back a few days later to try again.
@ChrisO
Are you logged in on two seperate devices ?
iPhone and or PC ?
@Barracuda
No, it’s either my laptop at home or PC at work. But it has happened on both.
Seems to have been cleared now, as the replies above have now appeared. But I’ve been and gone several times now, like Cadel Evans on a mountain climb.
Frank thinks it might be to do with my IP address, or maybe it was the ionic phase shift caused by our re-entry from hyperspace, something like that.
@Barracuda
So this is my second reply to @Barracuda… first one (from home laptop) didn’t appear, this is from work laptop in the office.
Pretty sure it hasn’t been confined to one or the other though.
I very occasionally look at the site on mobile but rarely post that way.
Anyone noticing a performance improvement? Site seems to be screamin’ lately, not by accident. Loads of work has gone into getting this fucking thing off its knees, just wondering if its feeling faster to anyone other than the Keepers?
Yes, definitely better for me. I read a bit at work but rarely post from there, and often the posts won’t load, which I put down to the shite IT. Home-wise, it was getting frustratingly slow but is now very good. I love the site and appreciate all the effort that goes into running it, and therefore won’t complain about the performance (see Rule #43)*, but there’s definitely been an improvement which is much appreciated. Chapeau, Sir.
*well, just one tiny complaint – you gave me a +1 the other day but I never saw the jersey, ….
@Frank does seem a bit faster, it seems more consistent now.
By the by, I dropped you an email (to all accounts) can you drop me a reply please.